Reflections

Dear Friends,
Lent is a time for ‘Spring cleaning’ in our souls. We move the furniture in our life, take down the curtains, wash the windows and create space by removing what clutters our daily lives. It is not just a matter of getting rid of mess. It is rearranging things, finding ways to create more room, a better space. We see ourselves differently and make more room for God.

During the holy season of Lent we open our hearts and minds to a fresh, deeper, fuller awareness of God within us, around us: a deeper awareness of God's will for us. We are each called to spend extra time in prayer and to confess our sins honestly to Christ in the Sacrament of Penance.

Lent reminds us forcefully that we will be judged at our death and must give an account of our life.

Yet death is such a taboo subject in our culture. Some treat it as a ’problem’ that can be 'solved' and legislated about. But Lent reminds us we must ponder deeply its stark reality.

During our life on earth we struggle to protect our future with bank accounts, credit cards and investments. We protect the future with health plans, life insurance, social security and retirement plans. There is nothing wrong with that. But the statistic on death has not changed. It is still one per person.

First of all I wish you a joyful and meaningful celebration of Christmas. As of now, Christmas greetings would have been sent and Christmas presents bought and wrapped and ready to be given. Christmas shopping would be sorted, ordered and ready to be shared at the Christmas table. We would have sung with all our hearts the Christmas carols, as we had our Christmas break-ups. We would have set up our Christmas lights flickering at night.

All of these and more are indeed signs that Christmas is in the air. But we need to remember that Christmas is more than just something that we do, or something we give. In fact, Christmas is about someone, and this someone has a name, Jesus - the Emmanuel, the God-with-us, the God who humbly came down from his throne in heaven, and chose to be born in a lowly manger – ‘a saviour who has been born to us (Lk 2:11)’, the ‘true light that enlightens all people (Jn 1:9)’.

With the First Sunday of Advent, we start a new liturgical year. Advent is a season of preparation and anticipation. On the surface, we often think of the Advent season as a time the Church uses to prepare us for Christmas; the birth of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. Scripture tell us that this preparation goes much deeper than celebrating an event that happened 2000 years ago. Advent is more than us getting into the Christmas spirit. It prepares us for seeing and accepting God in our lives and knowing that our ultimate goal and destiny is eternal life in heaven.

In the Catholic faith, the month of November is dedicated to all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. We commemorate the dead at every single Mass, as part of the Eucharistic Prayer. This month gives us an opportunity to reflect in a special way, not only on the souls in purgatory but also on us who are left behind to live this moment. The topic may sound morbid, but in fact it contains a secret to tremendous joy.

August 15th is the date for the Feast of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary. The Feast commemorates the Assumption of Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul into heaven was one of the last dogmas of the Roman Church to be declared. It was formally declared by Pope Pius XIII in 1950, but the idea of it has been around for centuries.

We are at the threshold of the season of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday. The imposition of ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday reminds us of the call to repentance and to believe in the good news. It is a season to celebrate the mysteries of our redemption – passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. During this season of Lent the suffering Lord invites us to put love in all that we think, do and act. When there is love then all our actions gain a new meaning: almsgiving becomes generous and spontaneous; prayer becomes union with God and leads to action and fasting becomes a sign of
our solidarity with the poor and dependence on God.

Christmas is the celebration of a unique historical event. It is not just an echo of a long past 'Holy Night'. Rather, it is the fulfilment of a promise of God coming down and living among us human beings!

At the conclusion of Year of Mercy, Pope Francis in his letter Misericordia et Misera (Mercy and Misery) reminded, "the Jubilee now ends and the Holy Door is closed. But the door of mercy of our heart continues to remain wide open." As we enter into the holy season of Advent, it is time to open our hearts wide. It is time of grace and hope letting Jesus come to us. Our call is to keep the door of our hearts wide open in order to welcome Him when he comes. When will He come, where will He meet us and how will He appear – no one knows! Ours is to stay awake and be prepared!

Lloyd John Ogilvie,
the author of Silent Strength of My Life,
tells the story of a young boy he met while travelling. He noticed the boy waiting alone in the
airport lounge for his flight to be called. Boarding began for the flight, and the young boy was sent ahead of the
adult passengers to find his seat. When Ogilvie
got on the aircraft, he discovered the boy had been assigned the seat next to
his.

The boy was polite
when Ogilvie engaged him in conversation and then quietly spent time colouring
in an airline colouring book. He showed
neither anxiety nor worry about the flight as preparation was made for
take-off.